Sarah Pekkanen and The Best of Us

I met Sarah Pekkanen this weekend! She has a new book out called The Best of Us, and was speaking at a local book shop called Politics and Prose, which is pretty much an institution in DC. Steve and I had been out all afternoon, so we grabbed dinner at a restaurant next to the bookshop, and because of that, were a few minutes late to her talk. Ooooops.

Sarah was so wonderful and so funny. I missed the first ten minutes or so, so I didn't hear as much about the book, but she talked about her other books too, and took lots of questions from the audience. She gave advice to aspiring authors too, which I appreciated, since I have a secret goal of writing a book or two one day.

One day. I have the last line of the book finished...though should probably fill in the rest, eh?

When I went up to have my book signed, Sarah said I looked familiar and had we met...I said that I'd tweeted to her, so maybe that was why, and she laughed like we were old friends! It was so refreshing that we chatted that way. I've met some authors who seemed way too impressed with themselves, which made me a bit sad, but Sarah was so, so great.

I haven't read the book yet, but will post a review when I do! I bought a copy for Heidi, as she is the one who introduced me to Sarah Pekkanen's books. Since Heidi just had a baby a few weeks ago (!!!), she couldn't come with me, but I knew she'd want to read the book as well. Plus, she founded our book club, which is soon-to-be back in business! (any DC girls want to join our book club?! we're super fun, I promise).

I love meeting authors, and I love that many of them make stops in DC while on their book tours. This is just one of the reason why I don't like e-readers....it's really difficult to have someone sign your kindle  ;)

Have you read any of Sarah Pekkanen's books? Which one is your favorite?



so much love to Boston

 

 

 

There are no words, but my heart is in Boston this week.

(not sure the original source, as this has been all over twitter/facebook/pinterest)

event- Scarlet Threads in Old Town, Alexandria, VA!

DC area friends! All friends with friends in DC  :) 

 

I posted this to Scarlet Threads blog last week, but wanted to share the news here too.

 

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Good morning friends! I am SO thrilled to share this news with you, and I hope that you will be as excited as I am about this! Scarlet Threads will be taking part in a Holiday Benefit Shopping Night at the Ten Thousand Villages store in Alexandria, VA (Old Town, for those of you familiar with the area) next Sunday, December 16!

I'm sure you're familiar with Ten Thousand Villages, but in brief, from their site- 

With 60 years of experience, Ten Thousand Villages is a global network of social entrepreneurs working to empower and provide economic opportunities to artisans in developing countries. A founding member of the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT), Ten Thousand Villages sees fair trade as an alternative approach to conventional international trade.

Ten Thousand Villages is now a global network of more than 130 artisan groups in 37 countries and sells products in more than 150 retail outlets throughout the United States.

Ten Thousand Villages always has the most unique gifts, and is definitely one of my go-to places to find things for certain people. I love that when you shop there, not only are you empowering a family elsewhere, you can read their story. Each item comes with the story behind the person that made it, and these artisan stories really help you learn more about the community that you are now supporting. When buying something in the store, you can take the story with you, and the stories are also available on the website too. This is just the sort of thing that Scarlet Threads loves so much; really knowing where your money is going, so that you can see the positive changes that are taking place. 

I did most of my Christmas shopping here a few years ago, and I know I'll be doing some here this year as well!

Here are a few items I'm eyeing- 

Peacock Tea Light Lantern, from Bali

I've been a bit obsessed with peacocks recently, and I think this would be so much fun. If my sister is reading this, it's on my Christmas list  ;) 

Sheep Wall Art - made in Haiti 

I love this! It would be cute in a kitchen, I think. 

Children of Hope coin purse, from Guatemala 

I think this might be cute to send to Majlinda, the little girl I sponsor in Albania with World Vision! 

Om bracelet from Tibet.

LOVE this. 

Bountiful Grove bamboo bowl from Vietnam

Maybe for salads? Or fruit? Or pinecones? I love having a big bowl like this on the kitchen table, as a catch-all sort of thing, you know? 

 Sturdy stripes shoulder bag from India.

Cute for weekends! 

Floral Jute shopping bag from Bangladesh

This would be perfect for those weekend trips to the farmers market! 

So! As you can see, Ten Thousand Villages has some really lovely gift ideas. Next weekend, I will be there in the store with some Scarlet Threads items for you to see in person! It will be an open house of sorts. I'll be there at 6pm. We will have some fair trade wine to try, some snacks, perhaps some fair trade chocolate as well. You can do some holiday shopping for your loved ones. I'll have lots of information about Scarlet Threads to share with you. Also, Scarlet Threads will receive a percentage of anything purchased from Ten Thousand Villages that night as well! 

I, of course, will be sporting one of our aprons....just need to decide which one!  

Details:

Ten Thousand Villages, Old Town Alexandria 

915 King Street

Alexandria, VA

(703) 684-1435

Sunday, December 16

6-8pm 

We're so honored that Ten Thousand Villages is hosting us, and are thrilled for this opportunity to share our mission with their supporters as well. 

I realize that many of you are not in the Washington, DC area, but please share this with your friends and family, and ask them to do the same! We'd love a big turnout of support, and we need your help to make this happen! 

authors and book signings!

 

 

One of the things I like so much about DC is book tours. Of course, book tours happen all over the country, but authors often make a stop here, and I often get to meet them and have a copy of their newest book signed for me! So much fun. When I write a book, I'm totally going on a 50 state tour.

 

 

Here is me and Heidi with Jennifer Weiner! She spoke at the Historic Sixth and I Synagogue and was seriously hilarious. Also? She had cupcakes during the signing for people to munch on while waiting in line! She and I chatted about Bachelor/Bachelorette and she was impressed when I told her that Chris Harrison once replied to one of my tweets (true story!). This book, The Next Best Thing, was my favorite of hers, I really think. This was the first time I'd seen her, and I hope she returns to DC with the next book!

 

 

Also earlier this year (in May, I think!), Jen Lancaster was here! She is usually here on her tours- I think this was the third time I met her! Also super hilarious. Her most recent book, Jeneration X, is as funny as her others. Love her. 

Most recently, Emily Giffin was here, just last month! Like Jen Lancaster, she spoke at a local Barnes and Noble. Also like with Jen, I went to the event alone, as Heidi wasn't available (boooo!), but it was still a lot of fun. It was funny, because at her talk, there was a real-life Kirby in the audience, which, if you've read the book, you know is a character in her new book, Where We Belong.

So! Those are a few of my recent author meetings, which I just think are so much fun. I will admit, that I tend to get a bit tongue-tied when meeting "famous" people, so sometimes, I have to prepare what to say before I get to the table! I'm not the only one who does this, right???


Have you met any authors? Have you read any of these three books? What did you think???

 

black tie affair?

I have a wedding to attend in July, and it's black tie. Not black tie optional, but black tie. In Georgetown, the swankiest part of DC, at a fancy-pants hotel, at the end of July. I've never been to a black tie wedding! I was under the impression that black tie means long gown, but to me, most long gowns look like bridesmaid dresses. I don't want to clash with them (I should find out what color their dresses are, eh?) and I am just not sure what to wear! I love dressing up, but am paranoid that I will somehow dress wrong!

I saw this dress on Nordstrom's website and am really liking it. The price isn't so bad either! It comes in navy or gunmetal. I am liking the gunmetal, actually, and also, my sister's bridesmaid dresses are navy, and I probably don't need two long navy gowns....

What do you think? Could I wear this dress to the wedding? Have you been to a black tie wedding?

 What did you wear to it?

greetings from Washington, DC

Everyone likes postcards, right? If you do, can you help out with a school project for a friend?

My friend Crissy's young cousin is doing a school project (she's in 4th grade) where they have a race to gather as many postcards from different states as they can. She is in Massachusetts and is looking for exotic states that are far from New England :)

Could you help her out and send a postcard from your lovely state? The postcard does have to be postmarked from that state, otherwise I'd send her about a dozen myself! I have the address the postcards should be sent to, but I don't want to put it here, for obvious reasons, so if you want to help out, and send along a postcard, please send em an email (my email is on my profile page), or comment, and I can reply back to you with where the postcard should be sent to.

Also, if you want to blog about this too, I'd love it! I'd love it if she could get a postcard from all 50 states, so if you have friends in hard to get states, please forward this to them!

I should mention too, that this is a race, so it makes it more fun :)

wild wild wednesday

Recently, Steve and I began to notice some noises coming from the attic at night. It isn't much of an attic, really just a crawl space. He noticed that a piece of paneling on the side of the house was loose, so he thought it might have been a squirrel that had gotten in. After a few "visits," he realized that it was probably larger than a squirrel.

Over the weekend, we went out and bought a large trap.

He set a bait with cheese and croutons (ha!) and set it up.

Yesterday morning, this greeted him when he looked-

Rocky the raccoon!

I thought he was kind of cute and suggested we keep him, but Steve thought it was best to drive him to the woods and release him back with his friends, which he did.

He suspected that there may be a second raccoon, so he set the trap up again yesterday afternoon and just now texted me to say that a second raccoon was caught in the trap! Crazy, eh? Once again, he will drive Rocky II to the woods for release.

Next step? Repair the loose paneling on the side of the house :)

Lexi & The Pioneer Woman = BFF

This past Saturday was the Library of Congress's National Book Festival, one of my favorite events of the year. Normally I go there with a schedule, having mapped out who I want to see and what time they were speaking and signing their books.

This year, my main priority to hear speak was Laura Bush, who founded the first NBF in 2001, her first year in the White House. She was speaking at 10:35 (no signings), so I got to her tent about 45 minutes before that, knowing that it would be crowded. Prior to Mrs. Bush, Gordon S. Wood spoke, discussing his books about the American Revolution. He was actually quite interesting and I think I will look for his books.

Then Mrs. Bush came out and spoke about how proud she was of the NBF and what it means to her. This was the 10th anniversary of it, so she was pleased that it has continued. She recently came out with a memoir, so she read from it, about 9/11. The first NBF was just three days before 9/11, she told us. She was wonderful and I was pleased to hear her speak. I really do admire her quite a bit. She's a former teacher and librarian, as you may know.

After that, Steve and I wandered a bit. There were other authors there, of course, but nobody that I was dying to see. I knew that the Pioneer Woman was there, but she had spoken at the same time as Laura Bush, so I missed her. Her signing was later that day, so I had my cookbook with me, just in case. I figured her signing line would be insane though, so it wouldn't have been the end of the world if she didn't sign it.

One of the tents held the Pavilion of the States, where each state has a table and sets up a display of authors from that state and the like. I was wandering through and came to the Oklahoma table, and there she was!

I couldn't believe it. I smiled at her and said "oh my gosh, hi!" I'm pretty sure that the eight-year old boy standing there had no idea who she was :) I asked her if she'd mind if I had my picture taken with her, and she said of course not, so I handed my phone to Steve and walked around the table. Then, I said "would it be really horrible of me to ask you to sign my cookbook now?" She laughed and said "no, then you won't have to wait in the line later!"

So she asked my name and how I liked the cookbook. Of course, I told her that I love it and how I received it in a cookbook swap from Mrs. Potts, which she thought was really cool! We chatted for a few minutes, she wrote me a love note and off I went a few minutes later.

She's such a doll. Really.

I think I want to move to Oklahoma and live on her ranch.

{the cookbook!}

{ hehe! }

{ chatting }

{ love to lexi!}

{ see, we're pretty much BFF now }

How was your weekend?

preptastic!

Have you read the new book, True Prep, by Lisa Birnbach, the author of The Official Preppy Handbook? Just saw this and thought it was cute.

I've been to a few of these, though not all. Guess I should try to hit them all?

Funny, my father is a big fan of The Tombs (a bar in Georgetown). Also, Steve is intrigued by Smith Point. Neither of us have been, but he wants to go. I keep telling him that he will hate it...he's not the preppy type :)

Source

wait, what? was I supposed to say yes?

Yesterday after work, I stopped at Harris Teeter to pick up a few things and was walking home from there. I've done this a zillion times, so I thought nothing of it. As I walked along Pennsylvania Ave SE (not in the sketchy part!), I turned to head north towards my apartment. I noticed out of the corner of my eye a white sedan slowing down, but again, thought nothing of it.

Then the car stopped, and I heard the driver say "excuse me." I glanced at him and the passenger, but looked away, as I didn't think he was speaking to me. Then he repeated himself, so I stopped, assuming they needed directions somewhere.

Driver- "excuse me"

Lexi' "yes?"

Driver- "I was just wondering if I could take you out on a date."

Lexi- *dumbfounded* "sorry, I have a boyfriend"

Driver- "okay, have a good day!"

I was flabbergasted! Does this happen often? Do people say yes when random guys pull up to them and ask them out on the sidewalk? Did he think that I was going to say yes?

So of course, I called Steve immediately to tell him and then promptly updated my facebook status to tell the tale. Several people, including my sister, commented and said I should remind Steve that I am still on the market and he has some competition! Ha!

I did think it was pretty funny, though so random! The best part, was the guy was no more than 20 years old!

Has anything like this happened to you?

boys don't make passes on girls who wear glasses

Yesterday afternoon I was on my way home from work, and was on the escalator up from the metro. There was a man a few steps ahead of me who kept turning around and looking at me. Finally, he said "nice glasses!" I was so surprised, I didn't know what to say other than "thanks?" He continued to try to have a conversastion with me, but I was so perplexed that I didn't really respond and then walked away.

What was funny about it, was this past weekend, I was home in NH, and nearly had a heart attack because I thought I lost my glasses. I had left them on the kitchen table, and my mother picked them up and put them in her bag, thinking they were hers, as they are very similar looking. This led into a lengthy conversation about how old my glasses are (very) and how long it has been since I've been to the eye doctor (long). My deep fear of the eye doctor is a story for another day.

It was just such a random comment. "Nice glasses." Is this some sort of new pickup line that I am not aware of?!

Discuss.

cupcakes, cupcakes galore!

So Washingtonians, are you aware of the gloriousness that is Curbside Cupcakes? They are a bright pink van that drives all over the city and sells cupcakes out their back door! Earlier today, I saw their tweet that they were parked in front of the Red Cross building. Since that isn't far from my office, I grabbed a co-worker and ran over.

Um, blissful. I adore red velvet cupcakes and this was no exception.

Look at their twitter site and follow them, as they post their locations throughout the day!

The man with the van took our picture to add to their facebook page too! Love it.

Now, my question is this...how did I not come up with this brilliant idea?!

assault on Maryland Ave

Yesterday morning, I left my apartment to head to the metro for work. It was cool and crisp, and I was just thinking how nice it was and reminded myself that it is now November, and how much I love November.

I was crossing the street and saw acorns falling all around me. I then thought how funny it would be to get hit in the head with a falling acorn. Next thing I knew,

BONK!

I got hit in the head with a falling acorn! I couldn't believe it, it was literally ten seconds after I had that thought! It really hurt too.

Clearly I jinxed myself, eh?

I had a headache the rest of the day...do you think it was related?

the cat next door

Several weeks ago, my neighbor asked me to watch her cat while she was away. She's lived here most of the time that I have, and we've become friendly; sometimes borrowing a wine bottle opener from the other, things like that. She's my age, and while we are friendly and chat when we see each other, we aren't really friends and don't hang out or anything.

She has a cat and told me that she was going away for a week and could I feed him while she was gone. I told her I didn't mind at all. She said I simply needed to go in once a day, feed and water the cat and scoop the poo from the litter box and put it into a plastic bag that she had in the closet. She gave me a key.

So each day when I got home from work, I'd go next door and play with the cat for a minute or two, and make sure he had water and refill the food. I'd scoop the poo, put it into one of the plastic grocery bags that she left and then put that small bag into a large garbage bag that she left there. She said to just put all the small bags into the large one and then I could take it out at the end of the week. Thursday night when I went in, I couldn't see the cat and he didn't come right out when I came in, so I turned on one of the lamps to find him. He came out a few minutes later. Later that night, I realized that I left the lamp on, but figured I'd turn it out the next day and didn't think too much of it.

She never said exactly which day she was coming home, but I wasn't too concerned. I had her cell number, just in case. I came home Friday night and came into my apartment. I took my shoes off and changed out of work clothes. I sat down to look at my mail, planning to go over in just a few minutes. As I was about to go over, I heard her at her door. I could hear her opening her door and calling out for the cat, so I knew she was home. I didn't want to rush over as soon as she walked in the door, so a little while later, I went over and knocked, but she didn't answer the door. I figured she was tired from the trip and went to bed early.

Now it's a month later and I haven't heard from her at all! I saw her once in the hallway just the other day, and she said "hey, how are you?!" and I replied "great! you?" and that was it. There was no mention of watching the cat, her vacation or anything. She hasn't asked for her key back.

I'm feeling bad about it, like I upset her somehow, though I am unsure as to how! I hope it isn't because of the poo! I had planned to take it out with me and throw it away that last night, but she came home before I could. She had indicated that that is what I should do with it, put it all in a big bag, and she said to make sure to hang it up high in the closet, so that the cat couldn't get at it, which is what I did.

Should I write her a little note and apologize? Should I ignore it all together? What would you do?

pizza fail

Last night Steve and I decided to order pizza, as it was getting late and too hot to cook. As usual, we looked at dominos.com and each picked something (a cheeseburger pizza for him, and a thin-crust with chicken, black olives and feta for me). We kept an eye on the online pizza tracker while we watched House Hunters and soon enough, dinner was at the door.

Steve paid the delivery guy and handed me the boxes. I opened his box and put a few slices on a plate and handed it to him, and then went back to my pizza. I opened the box and what did I find?

A missing slice of pizza!

THE DELIVERY GUY ATE A PIECE OF MY PIZZA!!!!

I couldn't believe it. He tried to push the others over a bit, so it wasn't so obvious, but it still totally was. So this means that a. the pizza guy opened my box of pizza and b. likely touched the piece next to it, and c. probably wasn't wearing gloves. Ewwww.

I was going to call and compain, but didn't because a. this store is SO grossly incompetant and slow as it is, b. it was late and I was starving and c. I was so mad that I wouldn't have made any sense. I didn't eat the pieces that touched the missing piece though. I may write to dominos HQ and complain to them. We've had problems with this particular store before and have called to complain, but nothing happens. We use them because they are the closest and we are in their delivery area, rather than another store.

So, Dominos on Hawaii Ave NE, you are not my friend. Find some delivery drivers who can keep their grubby paws to themselves. Wankers.

Has anything like this happened to you? What would you have done?

Soxyyyyyyyyy!

Just got tickets for the Red Sox/Nationals game here in DC for next Thursday night!

Wahoooo!

You can find me sporting a Varitek shirt :)

Friday, my good friend

Hooray for Friday!

I'm hoping that this weekend won't be as rainy as the last two days have been. The other night, there was an actual hail storm. The next morning, there were branches everywhere and a huge stump where a tree had been that morning. Last night, Steve came over and we walked to 7-11 to get a slurpee. So good.

I'm not sure if you've seen this gem, but if not, go go go! Those of you in DC may appreciate it more, but it has made my day for the last two days I've known of it. Thanks to Heidi for posting it first :)

I think I am going to a strawberry festival on Sunday, out at Great Country Farms. This is where we got our Christmas tree last year and there is a winery across from it. Pie eating contests and tart tosses...plus strawberries and wine. Sounds like fun to me!

What are your weekend plans?

make it stop

Okay, so I recently wrote two posts about crime in my hypothetical backyard. Well, it happened yet again. This time, in my building. Yes, you read that correctly. In my building.

Saturday afternoon, Steve picked me up, as we were going to the movies. Coming out of the front door of my building, there was a note taped to the door written by a resident of the building. She wrote that she was robbed Friday night. In the building. IN THE ELEVATOR!

Of all scary and creepy things that could happen, this girl was robbed in the elevator of the building she and many others live in. I don't know details, I don't know what time it was, etc, but that shouldn't matter, should it?

I am more than a little freaked out about this.

power-what?

So it seems that this weeks powerball jackpot is at $109 million. You may have heard that a few weeks ago, a DC resident won the $144 million prize. Turns out, he's an 82 year old widower with ten children and 47 grand and great-grandchildren! What I love the most is this-

The octogenarian has created three trusts: one to educate his heirs, one for their health care and one for philanthropy.

I think that is a really fantastic use of his funds. Personally, I can't even fathom how much money that is and I can't even begin to imagine what I'd do with that much. Sure, there are the obvious; pay bills, travel, help my family, buy a house (or nine!), etc. Of course, I have a few charitiable orgs that I love (World Vision, Room to Read, Humane Society), so I'd certainly help them and a few more. Maybe I'd donate to my high school and college and have them rename the library after me :)

So, what would you do with such a win? Would you run away and hide, never to be heard from again? Do you have special charities that you'd help? Would you become an anonymous do-gooder, helping random people in need?

huzzah!

Remember a few weeks ago when I posted about one of my favorite orgs, Room to Read, and said they were beginning a DC chapter? Well, I have a meeting Monday after work with the chapter leader to discuss the DC chapter and how I can be involved! Hooray!

My day just got a bit better :)